Case Study

Oracle Fusion Chart of Accounts Revamp for Construction ReportingSegment-Driven Design Enables Project Profitability

How a construction developer consolidated 22 legacy systems into a segment-driven COA, enabling faster profitability reporting and sustainable governance.

January 8, 2026
16 min read
Construction & Development

Executive Summary

During a major Oracle Cloud ERP (Fusion) rollout, we redesigned the client's legacy Chart of Accounts (COA) into a construction-focused COA that supports faster project profitability reporting, clearer separation of project vs. corporate overhead, and scalable GL allocations.

The program consolidated finance operations across approximately 22 legacy systems into a single standardized model, supported by a governed legacy-to-new COA crosswalk.

Background and Challenges

  • Reporting delays: Each legacy system used different account structures and coding conventions, making consolidation slow and error-prone.
  • Embedded complexity: Job cost detail was embedded in account strings, driving inconsistent coding, reclasses, and manual reconciliation.
  • Consolidation friction: Roughly 22 legacy systems produced outputs that did not align cleanly at entity, project, or cost level.
  • Leadership needs: Leaders needed project development profitability faster and with higher confidence to support decisions during growth and ERP change.

Objectives

  • Enable timely, consistent project profitability reporting by project/job and cost code.
  • Provide transparent visibility of project overhead vs. corporate overhead.
  • Support repeatable, auditable GL allocations without dependence on manual journals.
  • Standardize coding to make consolidation and comparative reporting reliable across the organization.

Solution Overview

We rebuilt the COA as a segment-driven model in Oracle Fusion, shifting detail out of long account strings and into controlled, reportable dimensions. The resulting design keeps natural accounts stable while using project/job and cost codes to carry the job-cost truth.

COA Design (Oracle Fusion Segments):

  • Company / Entity: Legal entity or reporting entity for consolidation.
  • Natural Account: Consistent expense/revenue categories (intentionally stable).
  • Project / Job: Primary driver for project-level reporting and profitability.
  • Cost Code: Standardized construction cost coding for labor/material/subcontract/equipment.
  • Tenure: Portfolio/program dimension aligned to operating model.

Key Design Decisions

  • Removed job-cost from account strings: Used segments to preserve detail without inflating account counts.
  • Standardized cost coding: Similar work is coded consistently across projects and entities.
  • Hierarchies up front: Project profitability and overhead reporting available out of the box.
  • Governance controls: Prevent invalid combinations and long-term COA sprawl.

Migration, Governance & Results

The program executed a Big Bang cutover, moving finance operations and approximately 10 integrations to Oracle Fusion at once. To manage risk and maintain traceability, we maintained a governed COA crosswalk, translating legacy coding structures to the new Fusion COA consistently.

🔒 Controls Used:

  • • Trial balance tie-outs by entity and account class
  • • Project margin reconciliation on active projects
  • • Exception reporting for invalid combinations
  • • Interface balancing checks

📊 Key Results:

  • • Faster month-end close
  • • Fewer journal entries required
  • • Reduced reclass volume
  • • Improved project profitability analysis

Lessons Learned

  • Treat COA design as a reporting model for the business, not just an accounting tidy-up.
  • Build mapping as a governed system (crosswalk) rather than one-off spreadsheets.
  • Avoid overloading cost codes with too many concepts; keep dimensions clean and controlled.
  • Governance is not optional—without it, COA sprawl returns quickly.

Ready to Redesign Your Chart of Accounts?

Move beyond legacy account structures and spreadsheet mapping. Build a segment-driven COA in Oracle Fusion that enables faster profitability reporting, clearer project vs. corporate overhead visibility, and sustainable governance. Let's help you consolidate your finance operations into a single, trustworthy model.